Okay guys I'm not an audiophile but do appreciate good solid bass, not the kind that makes your ears ring for half the day. With that, any constructive opinions would be definitely appreciated. Currently I have 3 subs that I have acquired over the past couple years and I need to get the best bang out of one of them. They are the Kicker S8L7, Alpine SWR-1042D, and the Rockford Fosgate 10" P3. And yes I know these are the mainstreaming product but all of these were purchased prior to me knowing anything about the real deal stuff like Sundown, DD, etc. So I won't be throwing out any mo hard earned cash anytime soon. I have a Kenwood KAC-8105D rated @ 500 rms x 1. I NEED my trunk space so that kind of eliminates a ported setup, so which sub would suit me best in a fiberglassed enclosure in the trunk corner. Yes, this will be a sealed set up but which sub can I squeeze the most bump out of?

thanks a lot fellow TL'ers.

 

Oops btw my enclosure is already glassed with a lil' mdf for the front. It has about .80 cu ft of airspace.

thanks again.

 

SPL and sealed usually don't go together. Especially when your only using 1 woofer at 10" or smaller and 500 watts haha. Also, if you've already got a fiberglass enclosure then how do you plan on fitting a square sub like the 8L7 in it? It's square and 8". Is yours a 10" box?


Conclusions: If you want SPL, true SPL, then sell all 3 and pick up a better woofer.

 

Polk mm

Look for something with a lot of xmax

 

yes I realize spl & sealed aren't plutonic but I figure why not take a stab at it with those terms. As stated I am not looking to drop any further coin whether it be selling them then buying. I just rather settle w/what I already got. My enclosure is glassed with a front mdf baffle that can easily be modified to fit either subs. Sorry if I wasn't clear enuff for ya guys. Any other input? Thnx!

 

Didn't read the whole post

i'd take the l7 out of the 3..

 

so this would edge out the other 2 subs in bass?

 

should get louder than the p3..type r not so sure..would be the best sounding of the 3

 

nice, I just tried it quick w/ some junk boxes & the L7 is a performer. Hard to tell which was louder but I'm sure your right on. Too bad the bolt line up doesn't match between the p3 & type are. I will have to try later. Why does the L7 do so well with slightly less cone area & power rating?

 

I know you said you didn't want to do this but if I were you I would seriously consider selling all 3", you don't even have to make a huge profit or sell them for a bunch...just enough to get the SA-8 from Sundown. That little fugger is a beast! Will sound MUCH better than anything you have there and get louder. It's pretty cheap at like $150 I believe so you should be able to pick one up very easily after selling all 3 of those subs. Don't settle just because ya don't feel like working at selling them...you'll want more shortly after you put it in I bet.

The L7 is built to handle/perform more for SPL oriented setups rather than the older Type-R and the P3. The P3 might get slightly louder and sound better but I've always hated Rockford subs and especially their new stuff. I'd have to look over the specs for those subs to say exactly which would be the loudest. As far as cone area, comparing the square 8" to a 10" round, the total area is less than half what it would be when comparing a 10" round to a 12" round.

 

so true TL noob, that SA-8 looks awesome. I wish I found out bout those brands early on. I've seen some clips from the ssa web & they look fierce. Has anybody tried porting a fiberglass enclosure? It seems that never happens?

 

L7's sound like crap, and even worse sealed.

 

"crap?" do you mean SQ is junk? I've read & heard the L7 is a decent performer w/o factoring it's relative high cost.

 

None of those are big time SQ subs. Just pick one and go with it. I would probably do the L7 too if you are looking just for some SPL.

 

Nobody has spoken up for the Alpine type-R, is it the lesser of the 3?

 

My honest opinion: Type-R, L7, P3

 

I dunno but just based off the more stoic look & a lil higher power rating it seems the type-r is the bigger player. Just my 2 cents. Hey Noob, is that also your 2 cents or is it based on actual listening experience?

 

No I've heard all of them but noone can make conclusions unless you hear all the setups of the same amp being used in the car. The l7 will get loud but sound like shit doing it. With those setups your not going to get any crazy SPL levels so my thought would be to get one that sounds the best and still gets loud. I've never liked the new rockfords as they're unreliable but the type r has always been a decent budget sub..and it's gotten better through the years.

 

the one with the highest efficiency and combination of the most moving air (excursion x effective piston area) will be the loudest. Best sounding? not necessarily, and subjective.

 

I loaded this enclosure with the P3 & I must say it hits pretty good! I now notice new rattles I've never heard before. Funny how things never seem to be just right in the audio spectrum, I was wondering if my old JL 8w3v2 would bump harder in that same enclosure. Of course I would have to modify it & add a port. What do you guys think?

 

phoenix gold rsd 10 would work perfect:

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAu...old_Rsd10.aspx

 

I have to agree the Phoenix Gold sub would by far be the best. Has better frequency range and efficiency(also my fave brand period).

Still the I go with an earlier post with Type r, L7, P3. Truth is the P2 is considered a superior sub to the P3(in the real world price vs performance).

 

Best? far from it

 

+1. PG makes slightly stuff but there is MUCH MUCH better for the price, quality,...everything

OP- I'd say the P3 10 would sound all around better than the jl 8. What box/amp are you using again? Nothing will sound good if your pre-fab

 

Get out here with that. Phoenix gold has more than a few really really high quality subs and rsd he posted is just one example of it. But hay everyone has there preference when it comes to speakers. Mines is always Phoenix and Boston.

 

You said best

The rsd is the best sub for spl in a sealed enclosure? NO

 

Dude really you don't need to even consider a 8inch if you trying to go for a Loud system. Typically the 8inch won't have the freq range and excursion you need to really get that ummph. There are some that can, but decent spl is usually left to the 12 and up crowd(even 10"). Shoot if you put the cash out and research into it you can find more than a few 10/12/15" subs that can go loud and clean.

 

My box is not pre-fab, I fiberglassed it into the trunk corner with a flat mdf baffle. I have some bracing in there and its pretty stout. The P3 is not really that bad, but of course I have little to compare since this is really my only 2nd glass project. My previous setup was the 8" L7 sealed in the trunk corner and it performed decent. I've did the L7 in ported configuration and it pounded! but the box was so intrusive into critical trunk space. I also have the JL 8w3v2 and it too gets pretty low for an 8, I made a ported box a while ago to JL specs. However like the L7 the w3's ported arrangement is rather bulky. I've talked with JL tech and they gave me some figures where I can port my trunk corner fiberglassed box, which is perfect since the box wouldn't be residing right in the middle of the trunk.

 

Here's a shot of my most current sub set-up. Mind you it's not complete, just gotta carpet it and its good to go.


Another shot of my previous set-up opposite side of trunk with my Kicker S8L7.

 

Lol....tell that 8" can't get loud to Digital Designs. 1 8" will blow the doors off 90% of the mainstream systems out there. Obviously though, more cone area = more spl. The question was spl in sealed...with choices given. The rsd is FAR from a good buy but might be okay for an average listener. OP..if you ask me, I think you'd be much happier going towards the sq end than the spl end. Loud is just....loud. Doesn't really mean much if it sounds like crap.

 

SQ is kind of important to me, but I lean more toward the loudness factor. My music interests are Rock to Hip/Hop so loudness in my opinion would be more beneficial. That's why I'm looking into another possible ported setup?

 

Why is it always one or the other? You can find several SQ subs that will get loud enough for permanent hearing loss. Do you really need it louder than that unless you are competing?

 

This. There are plenty of subs out there that will take 1K daily easily and sound beautiful doing it. Just sell those 3 subs, which shouldn't be hard to do, and buy something you'll enjoy for both SQ and SPL.

 

yes sire, I'm trying to squeeze out the best from what limited product I have. I'm not going to buy any more new audio equip. Apparently I've accumulated a few mainstream products that can't match the lesser-known but more superior brands. Only if I knew about those non-mainstream items I would've bought the SA-8 sundown or the DD-1508 and been sitting on cloud nine with hearing loss. Unfortunately I didn't JDA123 so that is why I'm asking for constructive opinions. I do have materials around the house that I can use for multiple projects so I'm not really dumping in more money into my system just good old elbow grease with what I already have.

 

hmmm interesting thread..

my friend is debating on weather to get a 10" Type R, old school JL or that PG that you guys are talking about. I told him to get SSA but he said he doesnt want to pay that much. He works @ BB so he gets a discount on the main stream stuff.

WE listen to the same kind of music, but I'll show him this thread and see if he feels differnt about it now

 

Urge him to throw some coin down for the SSA. Unless he can get that type-r for dirt cheap like I did. As a matter of fact I got all these mainstream stuff for as little as $40 and no more than $79.99 (type-r from Crutchfield open item).

 

You need to ditch the sealed and go 4th order

You're using an 8 with a little amount of power so you don't have cone area or power at your advantage..might as well go with the most efficient box design.

You can have low end extension, high efficiency, or small enclosure size. Pick two.

 

If he's dead set on BB products...the type-r is easily the best they carry. I wouldn't say no to an extremely cheap Type-R...obviously there are better but they aren't terrible (they've actually gotten quite a bit better of the years). His box type is going to be more of a factor than the sub though....screw BB for that

 

Best they carry is JBL

 

The one next to me doesn't I don't believe. If they have the mkII then that's probably best...P series ain't bad from the looks of it either